In Australia, there are many occupations that require you to have a mandatory license or registration prior to performing your work. The question is whether license or registration is a requirement of the TSS 482 visa.
The good news is that, while the 186 visa requires you to have a mandatory license or registration in order to have the visa granted, it is generally not a requirement for a visa grant under TSS visa (with the exception for Medical Practitioners).
Do you still need to obtain the license or registration?
The answer is YES. Although it is not a requirement for granting the visa, it is one condition that you have to comply after you get your visa. Meaning, your visa may be approved without a license/ registration (except for Medical Practitioners), but if it is mandatory for your occupation to have one to perform your role, you need to obtain a license/ registration before you can commence your work in the nominated occupation.
Particularly, when you are granted a TSS (Subclass 482) visa, you will have condition 8607 imposed on your visa. Condition 8607 states that TSS primary visa holders must obtain any mandatory registration/licensing/membership before performing work in the nominated occupation. Furthermore, as a TSS visa holder, you must commence your work within 90 days after your visa is granted (if onshore), or after you enter Australia (if offshore). This can be concluded that you need to get the license or registration within 90 days to commence your work.
Important
If obtaining the registration/licensing/membership will take more than 90 days or requires formal training (that is, external from the employer), the applicant should, for this training period, consider applying for a Training (subclass 407) visa or a Student (subclass 500) visa.
If you get a TSS visa but fail to obtain the registration/ licensing/ membership while mandatory, your TSS might be cancelled.
Medical Practitioners
If the nominated occupation is a medical practitioner, visa applicants must have their qualifications recognised by the relevant authority in Australia for the registration of medical practitioners as entitling them to practise as a medical practitioner. The visa applicant must provide the department with written evidence that the relevant medical board has recognised their qualifications and that they have been registered or that they will be given medical registration after visa grant. It is not necessary that registration be held at the time of decision. An “in principle” acceptance letter from the relevant medical board is sufficient.
How to determine whether a license/ registration is mandatory for your occupation?
There is no single definitive source that covers registration, licensing or membership requirements across occupations identified within the ANZSCO framework. This is partly because registration and licensing requirements are generally managed at State/Territory level through industry or occupation specific legislation.
The starting point in assessing whether a particular occupation requires licensing, registration or specific membership is the ANZSCO dictionary. The dictionary refers to registration, licensing and professional membership requirements at the Unit Group level for each group of occupations. The procedure can be summarized as below:
Did you know?
Although licensing/ registration is not a grant requirement for a TSS visa and you can obtain it after your visa is granted, it is recommended that you have this required license/ registration when you apply for a TSS visa.
If you hold the license/ registration to perform the nominated occupation, you are deemed to meet the skills and qualifications for the occupation without further investigation from the Department.
Important Note:
- With the exception of Medical Practitioners, demonstrating that a visa applicant has the relevant Australian licensing/registration (if mandatory to perform the nominated occupation) is not a requirement for TSS visa grant.
- To comply with visa condition 8607, TSS primary visa holders must, however, obtain any mandatory registration/licensing/membership before performing work in the nominated occupation. Consequently, if obtaining the registration/licensing/membership will take more than 90 days or requires formal training (that is, external from the employer), the applicant should, for this training period, consider applying for a Training (subclass 407) visa or a Student (subclass 500) visa.
- If the visa applicant needs to perform a period of supervised practice before being eligible for registration/licensing or requires pre-registration testing, a TSS visa is not appropriate and the visa applicant is advised to consider a more appropriate visa. This does not apply to professions where provisional registration is granted while the person undertakes any necessary training in order to gain full registration in the particular profession.
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